The first step to get to Wells Fargo Arena was checked off the list for the Mid-Prairie boys’ basketball team last night when they opened up the postseason with a 65-35 win over West Liberty in a class 2A district semifinal. 

As heard on KCII, it was slow going for the Golden Hawks in the first six minutes with the Comets taking advantage of offensive rebounds and held a 9-5 lead. A pair of triples by Jackson Pennington and Alex Bean to close the quarter is all the Hawks needed for the floodgates to open. A three point barrage ensued in the second quarter with Mid-Prairie holding a 29-18 advantage at half and a 21-4 third quickly put the game to bed. Four different Golden Hawks made a shot from long range led by Pennington going four of seven and finishing with a game-high 17 points. Head Coach Daren Lambert tells KCII Sports Pennington was on a mission. “He sees himself as a distributor that averages five assists a game, but they left him open a few times tonight and he took advantage. It was great to see him pull the trigger and have that confidence to hit a lot of those big shots. Teams are going to have to respect him and many other guys.”

Bean recorded 12 points and hauled in eight rebounds. Carter Harmsen and Aidan Rath rounded out the double-digit scoring with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Mid-Prairie assisted on 14 of 22 field goals and turned it over just four times. 

The Hawks improve to 15-7 and advance to Tuesday’s district title game against Camanche (16-6) in West Liberty.